Original Wilshire guitars are commanding high prices in today's collectors markets. Epiphone worked hard to bring it back in an affordable guitar that doesn't sacrifice quality, and now this limited edition electric guitar has been further updated with even more pro-features.

The Epiphone Wilshire Pro electric guitar has a double-cutaway mahogany body and set mahogany neck, which joins the body at the 22nd fret, giving you the ultimate in upper-fret access. The Wilshire Pro is lightweight and comfortable, with excellent resonance and natural acoustic tone—even unplugged! Featuring Epiphone's LockTone Tune-O-Matic/stopbar combination, the transfer of string vibration is improved even more, giving this it excellent sustain and clarity.

The neck pickup is Epiphone's Alnico Classic. It provides warm and subtle tone with a full, even response that doesn't hold back when you need that classic humbucker crunch. An Alnico Classic Plus is in the bridge, and is over wound for a slightly higher output—without sacrificing its rich, vintage tone. Both feature Alnico II magnets, enamel wire, and are double vacuum waxed. Each volume control on the Epiphone guitar is a push/pull potentiometer that allows you to coil-split each pickup separately for a more twangy single-coil sound, as well as many other tonal combinations.

The Epiphone Wilshire Pro electric guitar features their own "batwing" headstock. A classic design that improves tuning ease and accuracy by offering a straight string-pull design, the headstock is adorned like the original with the vintage Epiphone logo in gold. Other features include a 1960's SlimTaper neck profile with Rosewood fingerboard, premium 14:1 die-cast tuners, and individual volume and tone controls for each pickup.

Check the drop-down menu to the right to select colors and/or other options.

FEATURES

Body type: Solid

Body wood: Mahogany

Scale length: 24-3/4"

Neck Joint: Set

Neck wood: Mahogany

Fretboard: Rosewood

Neck shape: Slim-tapered "D" shape

Frets: 22 medium jumbo

Nut width: 1-11/16"

Fretboard radius: 12"

Bridge: LockTone Tune-O-Matic

Bridge pickup: Alnico Classic Plus 4 humbucker

Neck pickup: Alnico Classic 4 humbucker

Coil-splittable pickups

Controls: 2 volume, 2 tone, 3-way pickup selector switch

Tuners: Premium Die-cast

Hardware color: Chrome

Kick out the jams with your new Epiphone Wilshire guitar...Own it today!

Definitely a great value guitar with a pretty unique sound. A little tinkering may be in order (pickups, action adjustments, tone settings), but get to know this guitar, and it all...Read complete review

Definitely a great value guitar with a pretty unique sound. A little tinkering may be in order (pickups, action adjustments, tone settings), but get to know this guitar, and it all just feels very right. Look up some videos of it on YouTube, hear what it sounds like, and decide from there. If you like the tone, like I do, all the rest won't leave you disappointed.This is the first electric I've ever bought, and I've had it for about a year. Played acoustic for a few years prior, but thought it would be nice to play some louder, and faster music every so often.

Sound-wise, it definitely has its own personality, ranging somewhere between an SG and telecaster depending on your pick-ups and amp settings. It does seem to have an easier time playing the janglier, twangier songs, I'd say. Lots of bright, high tone without much adjusting. That's not to say you can't play black metal on it; it's just a slightly harder effect to achieve.

I think the oddest feature of this guitar is just how resonant it is when not plugged in. You really can sit down with it like it was an acoustic guitar and hear all your chords and notes perfectly. Of course, it isn't loud enough to record any music like that, but if you want to just pick up your guitar and practice, it's a nice feature to have. I use it in my apartment when I just need to walk through a few chord changes while I'm singing a melody. Works far better than headphones in an amp, in my opinion. Less needlessly noisy, yet just as easy to hear.Quality-wise, for it's price, I can't complain. A few people have mentioned the high-action issue, but it's never really bothered me. Overall, the guitar is thin and light, with a narrow yet comfortable freboard, and that's really what makes it a guitar worth playing, in my opinion.

The pick-ups aren't anything to die for, it's true, but they're not so terrible that you absolutely must replace them, like some would have you believe. Adjust the pickups as you like and screw around for a while (I use neck pickup, mid-gain, and a sparing amount of reverb), and it should sound alright. Of course, if you want the tone of angels, I could see being a bit underwhelmed.

Coil-splitting is excellent, and the push-pull knobs are so intuitive, it feels wrong for guitars not to have them now. With both humbuckers on, there's a very significant lowering of the volume, so that's something to consider. With just one, it shouldn't be a problem, though. Just realize that wherever your volume or gain settings are, you'll be increasing them at least 20% with both humbuckers.

Looks-wise, it's defintiely a great little guitar. Nothing on it feels cheap or loose, the block inlays on mine are perfectly aligned, and the tuning pegs are neither too flimsy or rigid (one of my pet peeves for guitars.) On a personal note, I love the batwing headstock. It adds a nice, original little flourish to the rest of the instrument.For the price, I really couldn't complain. I bought this and a 20-watt Orange amp for practicing for a little under more than this last December, and I consistently find it a fun guitar to play.

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Most Liked Negative Review

Disapointing Purchase

It seems as though Epiphone guitars are really a hit and miss proposition. Some of their guitars are pretty decent instruments, while others should have never made it to the loading dock.The...Read complete review

It seems as though Epiphone guitars are really a hit and miss proposition. Some of their guitars are pretty decent instruments, while others should have never made it to the loading dock.The Wilshire-Pro has the feature most guitar players would appreciate however, the overall poor quality of the guitar I received surpassed the positive features of the guitar.Guitar appeared well made however, upon closer examination it became really apparent that the guitar had slipped through the factory build quality control phase without any real oversight. Example, the neck was really bowed, action was sky high, hardware appeared to have been installed without reguard to it's actual condition - worn. I purchased what I thought was a new guitar, not a pre-owned instrument.Value is not determined the savings alone the total purchase experience must also include the overall quality of the product as well. In this particular purchase Epiphone did not deliver on their promise of producing an affordable instrument of unmatched quality at it's price point. In reality in was quite the opposite. Which really brings home the old saying "you get what you pay for".

The first thing I noticed about this out of the box was the feather weight and insanely high quality of the fit and finish. I am picky and I went all over it multiple times for a while and there wasn't one single flaw in the guitar anywhere -- no place the glue bulged out, no misalignments of anything, no cracks, no color checks, no gaps, no scratches or dings or paint spots or anything. That was pretty surprising to say the least for a super inexpensive Indonesian guitar. Plenty of Gibson Les Paul guitars need more work out of the box than this one did.

Next, when I plugged it in we were just as shocked again at how great it sounds. It has waxed real alnico humbuckers and they sounded great in all the configurations. Seriously, good job on those Epiphone. The switches and knobs all worked perfectly and I especially love that this guitar has the new style knobs that turn easily!

The set neck played great. I think I would replace the nut at some point, and the die cast tuners aren't fancy but do the job and don't slip.

My biggest complaint, and a deal-breaker for me, is that the frets aren't jumbo or even medium. This fretboard is classic style small or small-medium frets. For me that doesn't work, but most people may or may not have a preference.

To sum up, this guitar was an impulse buy while it was the Stupid Deal of the Day, and I would 100% recommend you run, not walk, and nab one of these if you like the geometry of them. You just absolutely can't do better with any of the other inexpensive brands. Just remember that the frets aren't exactly what are advertised.

I've owned a 1982 Fender Strat, but moved to 22 fret with a Yamaha SG copy. I don't practice much so wanted something that felt even more like I wasn't as out of practice. This thin neck does that, thinner from E-E but a tiny bitdeeper from frets to thumb. I saw the half price here at MF and couldn't pass it up. Having had a 1982 Alderwood Strat with Duncans (at a grand) I'd say this Epiphone Wilshire is worth it's retail. It is as slick and fast as the SG copy, but with more tone and sustain. It has a deeper sound,and is more like my Original Hagstrom Viking in it's neck speed, I love it. (without the hollow body's, vintage feedback) Fit and finish were great, the 18/1 tuners are nicer than the Grovers I put on the SG copy as a tiny nudge can put the Ep Wilshire back in tune. Grover has 18/1 locking tuners I want for this, but not immediately necessary. the single/hum wiring isn't something I'll use, but as the Fantomatic was full price I bought the Pro. The Sunburst finish is very nice. Electronics don't have an all metal feel, but are certainly not in any way cheesy feeling. I like the lay-out of the knobs and the contours of the body. I lowered the action with ease and like the feel more than my SG copy for the tone, and speed brought "tunefulness" (haha) out of my fingers. A real no brainer if you like a fuller sound and a good feel. I don't know what it will sound like recording nor a "big rock concert" but I can't imagine it not holding it's own. I didn't buy the Gibson LP in 1982 due to the weight. I'd have bought this then, and am glad I did now.Lets talk about customer service. UPS misdelivered my first one. No signature, part time driver. (watching the tracking with MF's handy emails) I called home from work to see who brought the delivery into the house. "NO package" I was told. I called MF right away and reported the problem. they had a new one to my house in 3 days. The customer service is excellent; taylor, Alex, and others just did what it took. You get the feel that they absorb the buyer's specifications , and they are getting an instrument to fill the need. very smooth. since my Hagstrom Viking has a fast neck, and all the tonal flexibility I could ever require, (yet at 40 some years old, she's safer at home) I have all I could want and will sell my SG copy. I'm very happy with this purchase.

Very pleased with this purchase ....... setup well done ... looks great and sounds great. Multitude of tonal variations available at a very affordable price. Only wish they hadn't placed a sticker on the pick-guard which was difficult to remove.

This guitar was the second electric guitar I have own, and since I bought it 3 years ago I have added a couple more. In that time I haven't had any major problems quality wise. Yes, you may have to set up or tune your guitar when you get it, but that should be expected when shipping an instrument multiple times (factory to store to you), through the mail, from one climate to another, and going from default factory settings to individual personal settings. That's why all the adjustments are easy to make. I bought the Green one (aged pehlam) because it was cheaper than the rest, I must say I like the color and get comments on it. It has a great clean tone, can get a Buddy Holly, early rock type sound. Coil tapping is a nice feature, especially if you're not sure if you want hb or sc pickups. Distorted I can get a decent punk/pop punk sound. I would say it is more versatile than a squire or epi LP at the same price and has a bit more character. It says "I'm different" instead of "I'm a cheap version of something else".

I own a few Epiphone guitars, all great sounding in my opinion...but the wilshire pro is the worst guitar I ever owned! Had a buzzing sound when I first plugged it in right out of the box. The pickups are cheap and lousy, and the whole sound is muddy...would not recommend this guitar to anyone!

been wanting one, the weight and versitility of coil tap humberckers is greeat, a well made setneck guitar with a little shorter scale than strats and telesand so light resting on leg in studio, the light weight adds a resonant sound similar to a 40 y o aged guitar, and this sale price was so awesome no way to pass this up

Excellent guitar, great price, all the bells and whistles I wanted. Fit and finish are great. I especially like the coil tapping electronics. The neck pu is a Classic Humbucker, fat and warm. The bridge is a Classic Plus, just a little hotter but stll articulate. Push-pull pots seem solid and work well. The tone is akin to the G400. I play alot of Blues and this guitar just adds another dimension to what I can do. The coil split tone is very much like a Stratocaster. I love the Batwing headstock.

The only problem I had with this guitar was the low quality of the knobs but I ordered the knobs I feel will jazz up the guitar.Inspite of this small problem I would order the guitar anyway.A great buy!

I received this guitar as a Christmas present in 2011. This was the first electric guitar I owned and I hadn't had much experience with them. Even with out that much knowledge on guitars I slowly figured out that this was not a quality guitar.It started out just fine I replaced the strings and I started playing endlessly. About 2 months later is when I started noticing problems. I own a great acoustic-electric takaminie which is almost flawless up and down the neck. I played blackbird at my school's spring concert and would practice on this wilshire when I didn't have the takaminie out of its case. Blackbird is played over the entire neck and I instantly realized a problem. It was out of tune on the 5th fret and up. It wasn't untill a couple of days ago when I was told what the problem was: the intonation, action, and truss rod were all way off. And I hadn't worked on anything on the guitar to mess them up. I have yet to get these fixed, but I hope a set up will. Over all I agree with El-davo's review although I think the pickups were great and produced awesome sound(if you played on the lower frets.) I might recommend it if the problems are an easy fix and stay fixed.